Empowerment of civil society

Sine Qua Non supports civil society organisations and other stakeholders wishing to expand their work globally, facilitating access to international organisations’ systems.

Our main activities entail:

Support to civil society organisations wishing to apply for consultative status with ECOSOC or the Council of Europe

Detection of opportunities for participation at international fora

Technical support (i.e. legal or human rights) when engaging with the UN system or other regional organisations

Sharing best practices on advocacy tools and strategies

Engaging with Special Procedures

We enhance access to international human rights mechanisms by strengthening the capacities of different rights holders who seek to engage with the UN. At SQN, we have successfully supported and contributed to civil society’s participation.

Calls for inputs

Special Rapporteurs (or Independent Experts) and members of Working Groups monitor the human rights situation in the different country members. They ask for inputs from States, civil society, and other experts or stakeholders, and they publish an annual report presented in the Human Rights Council with all the information received. Learn more> 

Forums

We encourage our partners to contribute to the different international human rights debates. Civil society gets the chance to make their voices heard at these forums. It is also an excellent opportunity to lobby with different officials and relevant stakeholders.

* UN Special Procedures are independent human rights experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on different human rights issues and situations. They provide recommendations and facilitate dialogue with governments to secure rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective.